Ripples in the Dusk
by allisonwonderland1496
Summary: In the world of Undertale, there are second and third and fourth chances: but with it comes a tragic price. Moltres, a girl who has found herself fallen in the midst of the peaceful ruins struggles to clear away the chaos enveloping her mind - seeking to understand just what these strange dancing visions of speaking skeletons, demonic flowers, and her own shadows are.
1. NEW GAME

Moltres. That was the name I – they – called me by. I think.

But why? Who are they? Or rather, who _were_ they?

Who was _he_?

And was I…indeed the beating entity… Moltres?

When I speak the syllables, when I breathe those very sounds… I feel as though I am ablaze.

I see only fire. Hear only ravenous embers devouring the hearts of home. Remember only flames caste upon the souls of distant memories.

I, Moltres, the one with no real knowledge of her history – of her origin.

I, the fire demon. The angel who has fallen from the land above.

Who am I?

Who is Moltres?

And most ponderous of all…

Who are you, shadow? And to which fate do you intend to guide me?


	2. SAVE FILE 1

LOADING SAVED FILE 1...

"…"

Moltres. Wake up.

"…"

Motres. You have to wake up.

"…ugh…"

Slowly the girl rises to her feet. Her head aches and there is an overwhelming smell of flowers. Her eyes adjust to the pitch black that seems to surround her with an odd burst of light falling at her shoulders from above. Slowly, slowly, she cranes her neck to peer up to the sky where a stream of sunlight beams tauntingly from where she stood completely alone and confused.

Already the voices that had pulled her from her slumber had fallen into the world of forgotten. She shakes the matted hair from her face.

"…ugh…my head…"

She continues to speak to no one, eager to hear something other than the circling symphonies of silence. Warily she glances down at her feet which are covered entirely by a sea of yellow plant life that clung almost fearfully at where sunlight touched, struggling for the blessed rays of life. Entranced, she gingerly leans to brush at the soft petals, reminded of distant childhood memories of butterfly wings being chased in the midst of spring. There is a child's laughter chorusing through her mind.

Such a remembrance ignites a sharp burst of pain from her temple and she staggers forward, whimpering.

In a matter of seconds, the memory of butterfly wings disappears to join with the voices of the forgotten. She cannot recall what it was she had remembered. She cannot remember how she ended up on the ground again, kneeling before the flowers in defeat.

She does not know who she, herself, is.

Except. Except what she can hear repeating in her head like a song persisting to be recited and kept pure for passing down generation after generation is a single name.

Moltres.

It guarantees no true identity. It calls for no acceptance to be hers and hers alone, but it is all she can seem to hold in place. It is all she has, so decidedly she takes it for herself. It is the first step in her ways of becoming _aware_.

"Moltres…" I breathe out, testing out the word, feeling oddly uncomfortable with the way it seemed to flicker to life. I relish in the way it gives me a feeling of consciousness. "Right."

With a deep breath, I turned to a direction I deemed appropriate enough to follow, and delved in the world blindly. In not too long, I came across yet another area of limited light, noting a patch of greenery and a single… _smiling_ flower.

 _Smiling_. I knew for a fact that flowers _did not_ smile back wherever I had come from.

It seemed expectant for me to approach and so reluctantly, for whatever reason, I decided to venture forward. Immediately it's beady eyes seemed to light up in excitement.

"Howdy! I'm Flowey! Flowey the Flower!" it exclaimed all too cheerily.

And suddenly a warning bell flared in my mind, and all I could think was: "KILL".

But just as quickly as it came, it disappeared off into an unobtainable memory.

"Hmm…"

I gaze at it questioningly, seeming unable to tear my eyes away.

"You're new to the UNDERGROUND, arent'cha?"

The emphasized word danced circles behind my mind's eye and curiously I wondered why it seemed so bitterly familiar… like a bad dream I had conjured in another lifetime…

"Golly. You must be so confused."

"Leave." I spoke coldly, surprising both myself and the plant.

For a moment no one, or really, nothing, said anything. It blinked almost rudely at me, shaking away at its petals and flicking its leaves in a foreign manner. After some time, it continued.

"…Someone ought to teach you how things work around here, and little old me will have to do!"

Something was peculiar with the way things suddenly felt. Like there was a slight and sudden change. In what, I had no ideas as to where to start guessing. But the fact was I was certain I'd done something to change what this thing was meant to say. I'd gone and altered some form of a… what was the word…

"…Hey…"

I snapped to attention, noting the impatient twitch of Flowey's unmistakable temple. His smile remained intact, but looked extremely forced. The whole ordeal now seemed like a horrid performance. And I, the audience, had managed to aggravate the actor of the show.

"What are you doing? Why are you staring off in space like that? Don't you know it isn't polite to ignore someone when they are speaking?"

No words broke through the barrier of uncomfortable silence following its remark. I merely stared for another bundle of comments to be said. In response, Flowey once again ruffled itself, the briefest of twitches gnawing at the corner of its mouth.

"*ahem*… right then. Well… Here we go!"

For a terrifying moment, everything went black. Before I could even register a moment's panic, the brightness returned, although in a strange, almost breathing glow of red. Startled, I leapt away from the new source of emitted light only to find it leaping right on with me. There, hovering just inches from my chest was a pixelated…heart. I dared a step to the side to find it following along with me in a delayed fashion, much like the acts of a love sick pup. Stunned, my palm reached out shakily at its outline only to retract at its warm and blocky touch. Again and again I braved myself into repeating the poking process, mindless of Flowey gazing at my bizarre charade with a look of pure irritation.

"Oy," it spoke gruffly, almost seeming to sag with exhaustion from observing my curious state. "If you're done... That would be your SOUL. The very culmination of your being."

Slowly, I nod. Captivated by its soft, radiant glow. This I knew. Somehow I knew.

"Your SOUL starts off weak, but can grow strong if you gain lots of LV."

It waits to see if I have anything to say, looking as though it's daring me to interrupt his speech once more. Wordlessly, I focus back on the floating heart. My soul.

It's a cute little thing, honestly. Just about the size of my palm. It even seemed to have its own slight beat, pulsing in separate bursts of rhythm. But still, just as this conversation seemed all the while… something was oddly familiar. As though this tiny, inanimate looking object were a long term friend I was being reunited with.

Testing my thoughts, I rest a hand to my own chest only to jolt at the lack of life. There wasn't, without a doubt, an expected organ moving within my ribs. This heart before me was truly…

"What's LV stand for? Why LOVE of cour- HEY. ARE YOU LISTENING TO ME, PIPSQUEAK?"

Flowey was frowning most unpleasantly, sending visions of feet tapping in a mad sort of pattern. It no longer seemed like a potential friend – nor did it ever, in that case – and I grew wary, comfortable enough with the idea to step back. Immediately the heart did the same, encased in my towering figure. The plant, too, took immediate notice.

"You…" it almost seemed to sigh, shaking its head in a new deranged sense of ominous intent. "You know what's going on here, don't you?"

The pixilation before me quickened it's rate, eager to move. With a nervous swallow, I fell back another couple of feet.

"Then you know how this ends right? You know how to play the game, yes?" Flowey went on in an eerie, monotone voice, growing louder with each progression. White bursts of what I presumed to be pellets appeared from thin air around it, throbbing with an unmistakable excitement. They seemed to tremble at the very thought of being launched at their next victim.

It was settled then. This was indeed an enemy not to be taken lightly. There could be no question as to how I came to such a realization so quickly, but –

"COLLECT ALL THE LOVE YOU CAN, EYAHAHAHA!"

Cackling, Flowey spectated me falling to the ground in surprise at a sudden circle of white coming in all sides, closing in…closer…closer…my heart struggling, struggling, until –

Gone. They disappeared much like they appeared in the first place… shrouded in mystery.

"Eh?"

Peering up to see what had ended such an atrocious situation, I did so just in time to take in Flowey's stunned expression along with a bright purple flame being flung towards the monster. In a tumbled fit, it flew off and out of sight, somehow blown off down to the roots.

"What a terrible creature, torturing such a poor, innocent youth…"

The voice was one of a sweeter song, caressing the weariness in my tensed muscles. It sounded of home and I could barely refrain from crying in pure relief. This being was so painfully familiar. So wonderfully pure. And I felt as I'd gotten back something precious I'd lost a while ago.

"Ah, do not be afraid…?"

The female's soothing voice trailed off at the sight of me taking in her grand appearance through blurred vision. But even with the distortion, I could absorb the unmistakable heaviness of her robes with those symbols which meant nothing but also so much to me, the lulling purple, the large, soft paws, and those peppery horns raising out towards the heavens. Her kind features melted into a look of deeper concern – something I deemed at the moment to be a talent – and her eyes wavered with a mixture of confusion and desire to comfort. In an attempt, I put out a hand to shake her… non-human paw in gracious civility. But rather than trying to understand my intentions, she smiles and pulls herself to me, enveloping me in a blanket of an embrace.

"My child," she asks softly, pulling me back to wipe at the corners of my dancing vision. I can feel slips of her fur getting stuck in the crevices of my lids, leaving a persistent itchiness – of course, something of which she couldn't have much control over. "What are these for? You need not be afraid of me. I am TORIEL, caretaker of these RUINS. I do not wish to harm you."

She wipes away at an escaping droplet, tilting her head at my transitioning mood. The moment of joyful reunion was replaced with puzzlement and a vagueness of my whereabouts. There had just been a talking flower, hadn't there? And this was a speaking…goat-thing.

Obviously I was dreaming. This was all a tripped out dream. And soon I would wake up in my bed… at a home with…what is the word. What are they? Parents. And maybe a brother… or… or maybe a sister…?

An explosion of overwhelming pain flared within my mind, knocking me into the belly of my savior. Startled, she folds her massive paws around my head in a careful manner, frantically calling for my state with a flurries of "are you alright, my child?" "what is wrong?" "careful now, I am going to take you into the catacombs."

And as I felt the last of my consciousness fade away, the skylight above me seemed to flicker and shudder. I began to confuse whether or not it was I who had closed her eyes on this world or if it had been the world above shutting their gazes away from me.


	3. SAVE FILE 2

SAVE FILE TWO LOADED

Toriel had been a mother. Such was obvious by the way she went about worriedly, tending to my healthy state – certain I had been hit with the plague by the way I'd crumbled into her arms. Of course, even with knowledge and constant reminders of how I'd fallen from the world of humans and collapsed after a moment's sadness, I'd forgotten anything had even existed. Hell, I hardly could register the fact that there were two "worlds" of separation to begin with. My mind had been cast in shambles, and the only words I had to hold were this creature's and the surprisingly still recalled dialogue from the flower that spoke.

The flower who had tried to kill me in this sense.

After I'd come to, I had found myself in the most comfortable of conditions, lying beneath the sheets and comforters of a bed with a piece of butterscotch… and cinnamon…? It was one of the two, if not both flavors of pie, welcoming me with a sweet, stomach churning aroma. Along with it was a note in lovely, typical motherly writing: 'Forgive me if you had a preference over one or the other. I couldn't decide between the two, and I meant to ask which you would have preferred. Oh I do hope you aren't allergic, but I don't anything else to make with this recipe so I do hope you enjoy it. Also I hope you are well, and if you feel you are lonely I am outside your room to the far left and I don't even know your name. I shouldn't-'

And I couldn't make out the rest due to scribbles and endless notions of frantic apologies and combinations of "my child". In the end, she didn't specify the ingredients. I simply assumed they were of a butterscotch or cinnamon related scent.

My preference seemed to be the least of my concerns, however and so I tried to eat in a civilized manner, starved from the unknown time span of my last meal. Then afterwards, as soon as I'd poked at and licked away at the last of the crumbs, I mentally craved the meaning of Toriel's words and wandered out to the slightly illuminated hallway. I had assumed it was the middle of the night, but how was one able to tell when living practically underground in the RUINS? So I took the left, and hurried on down to the first door. Unthinkingly, I checked over to the right, just to note the structure of the place and as I turned back the other way, almost shrieked at the tall, skinny shadow that seemed to block my vision, but on closer inspection and a random burst of courage, I noted the frightening shape to belong to what I believed was a plant. A non-homicidal one at that.

"Water sausages," I breathed, then shook my head in confusion. The absurdities that seemed to fall from my mouth. I couldn't place it.

Once I'd collected myself the best I could manage, I traveled back down the lengthy area and hesitantly placed my hand on the door handle. Wondering it would be considered rude, I pondered knocking, but feared she would be asleep. I worried so intently on the matter that minutes had passed, then an hour, and then I was curled along the frame of it, beginning to doze off…

"Child?"

But then the door creaked open and I was startled awake by her groggy expression melting into that of pure worriment.

"…sorry," I mumbled sleepily, in between the land of reality and dream. Surely this was the more realistic part, right? Or was I asleep? I was beginning to find it harder and harder to accept the possibility, despite all the bizarre sights and feelings I experienced in this short time…

Or had it been short? I'd gobbled that pie like I'd never feasted in my life. How long had I been passed out? But Toriel came across me, hadn't she? Did she come across the area much? And what in the world was she? Where on earth –

"Can you stand?"

I seemed practically incapable of speech. With a soft nod, I lifted my hands to the woman, willing myself to make use of my legs. But without warning, Toriel simply carried the entirety of my weight like it was nothing. Up and around I went into her room, and with a casual tuck in by her massive arms, I was swept neatly and sweetly at her side.

What else could I do but snuggle up to the gesture? As I cascaded down into a blissful night's rest, I felt the soft brushes of her paws threading through my hair lovingly. Like comforting a lost child.

…

"Toriel, how do I exit these RUINS?"

I was met with a wave a silence followed by her energetic outburst of some books she had for us to read together. It'd been a couple of days since that night I fainted. Ever since then, I'd found it too eerie to sleep in my own bedroom, as Toriel claimed it to be mine. The place felt borrowed. Haunted even.

"Toriel, how do I get back up to where I came from?" I tried once more. Her eyes cast away for the briefest of moments in a sort of panicked thought. Then she focused back upon my stoic stature with a forced smile, rocking back further in her chair, the glasses sliding from the brim of her nose to drive the illusion of her large, crystal stare.

"My dearest child, why don't you sit over here by the fire and I'll bake us some more pie? You seemed to enjoy it the first time," she sang with a hitch in her throat. I sighed at the memories of eating more than my fair share of them the following nights.

"Yes, Toriel," I tried to say with a lighter tone, prying for her listening ears. "But, I'm wondering if you would just tell me how I can go about figuring out how I came to falling here, and where I came from. Or maybe you could just tell me what rests beyond those doors in the basement –"

"There is nothing for you to see down in that darkened place," she interrupted suddenly, looking quite stern. I nearly jumped at this unusually defensive side of her. Just the other night I'd attempted to trek down those stairs of which had been a mystery to me the morning following my first night here. They seemed to snake down into another dimension with some dark, yet hopeful, intent. It almost beckoned with – those unseen forces – and I'd want to crawl down to find out just what sort of secrets lay in this mother's den. But of course just as I'd come across a couple of corners to find a massive barrier, Toriel had appeared from thin air, hasty in her efforts to whisk me away back and up to the safety of the upstairs. We'd hardly spoken of the manner, and I in attempt to keep her happy with me, held my tongue. But now, I just had to understand my drive to exit this sacred place. I had to learn the mystery not only of the outside, but inside these barricaded walls of my mind.

"Please. I just want to understand why I can't remember – "

"Isn't it for the best, then?" Toriel asked, her paws shutting the book in a aggressive yet polite manner. Seemingly shocked by her tragic display of exasperation, she took a deep breath, leaning into a pitiful expression of despair. "There are those of us who would relish in the blessing of a new start; of forgetting even the most hurtful of memories."

My head bowed down in a motion of shame for triggering whatever it was that seemed to eat into that pure soul of hers. A part of me considered just dropping it and caving into yet another stomach churningly sweet episode of dessert, but I couldn't dismiss the screaming questions in my relentless consciousness.

"I'm sorry, but it's something I have to do."

"No, it is something you FEEL you must do. And wanting to do something or having to do such are two entirely different things."

"Not always, Toriel," I argued quietly. "Not always."

She stood up in a frighteningly unexpected motion that I actually did find myself leaping up, flinching at the absurd thought that she would strike at me. Such motion on my part however, caused her to wince and she sadly took in my appearance before softly speaking to no one in particular.

"I must tend to something. Stay here."

And with that, she left in the direction of what I knew to be the basement.

I knew exactly what she intended to do, and so with a rush of adrenaline, I took quick pursuit only to find a Froggit hopping in the midst of my path.

These little creatures roamed all about the RUINS and were typically harmless. I hadn't wandered much further than the front yard area from the house, but from the few that had bravely or happened to end up at the door, clueless, I'd learned a few things. Driven into delirious depression from whatever foul things others may have said to them upon their travels (although I could only think of Toriel passing along through here with that repulsed expression towards them…) they were only calmed by words of encouragement and compliments. I never really believed they could understand me, but such were the most effective ways of passing them by without stepping on them. Or giving them terrifying looks – like by Toriel.

Puzzled by this one's lack of drive, though, I pondered aloud about its presence. In reply, much to my astonishment, it croaked a series of understandable cries. One word in particular seemed to come to me in an intriguing sense: Napstablook.

"What?" I wondered, craning my neck to note the horns of Toriel disappearing down below my sights upon the stairs. "What about this…Nap a stabbed look?" Furiously, the miniature frog shook its body, repeating itself loudly and with a clearer pronunciation.

"Napstablook?" I repeated and nodded at the Froggit's frantic nods. I could only assume it was a name. Once that didn't drive an explosion of déjà vu from my chaotic mind. So naturally, I was drawn to the idea of investigating, but there was the issue of Toriel destroying that doorway. My key out of this place.

So I did what I thought would snap her into joining my side. I cried out for help.

"Toriel! Please! There was an incident!" I shouted with as much forced devastation as I could muster. Just as I knew she would, she appeared in a sprint at the top of the stairs, barely breathless and cast her eyes immediately upon the Froggit. Her body went rigid, her eyes cold as daggers. The creature seemed to shrink before her fierce scowl. Even without saying anything, Toriel managed to have the thing spilling out a series of blubbered apologies for hopping in her home without permission, but he just had to come and seek the aid of the one they said complemented everyone for she could help assist in moving the ghost that had blocked the way back to the other side of the area.

"I thought I'd already taken care of that," she heaved and the monster shuddered violently with changed speech of "yes, yes you are quite right, I am completely in the wrong and I'll be heading on my way out, ribbit!"

"Hold on," I pondered, interrupting his seizure-like display of fear towards the caretaker. "I've actually been meaning to explore more of the area." In my mind I was hoping for a means of opening Toriel to the relief of me deciding to stay – at least long enough for me to buy time to steal away into the night when she'd fall heavily asleep. "I'd like very much to help out this ghost if it means learning the grounds more since I am living here after all."

For a moment she seemed on the verge of arguing just to drive more panic into the Froggit, but at the final bit in my comment, her eyes lit up.

"Of course, my child. If that is what you wish, let us go and check on the status of Napstablook. From what I recall, he wasn't feeling too well. It wouldn't surprise me too terribly much to find him back and moping in that depressing state of his…" she trailed off with a morphing expression of worriment to which I quickly assured.

"I doubt he'll be in much despair when I go over to him. Let me give him a quick talk. Maybe I can pull forth a few laughs." I beamed for added effect, catching the Froggit staring at me in awe…blushing and swiftly turning away to the opposite direction… which was towards Toriel who was back to hating upon the creature once more.

"Okay. Lead us then. But lose your composure and accidently harm this child… you will croak a final time."

Even I shivered in appearance of a bitter chill, swallowing dryly with the Froggit. But as if nothing happened, she faced me with that motherly smile of hers, cheerily pulling me forth with her paw to take through the pathway. I refrained from sighing at such behavior. It'd only been a few days and I was already feeling suffocated. But if things could run a fraction of the way I wanted tonight, surely I'd be able to get out and into the world beyond.


	4. SAVE FILE 3

Save File 3 –

Napstablook certainly was an… uplifting individual. Charmingly so.

In a weird sort of, well, monstrous way.

"Don't mind me… I'll just be… lying here…"

The poor thing seemed to have cascaded into an eternal depression, punishing itself for not finding the joys in the world just by lying in a heavy patch of leaves – which happened to be in the middle of one of the most important crossing area in the RUINS. With Frogit, nearly exploding from the trip with Toriel practically stomping on its feet the entirety of the way, I couldn't be sure as to what to do to motivate the creature from moving from its very spot.

"Oh…if you need to get across…You can just step on me… I guess."

Really, the poor thing seemed to need something equivalent to Toriel's heartwarming embraces. But judging how she appeared to treat everything not relatively human in the area with a wave of disgust, the idea was out of the question. I pondered the ways of how to appease this ghost, as I've never met one quite this down… or any for that matter…

"Ah… you, uh. Look rather dashing today, sir. What is it that seems to be bothering…you?" I tried, recalling the ways in which I could modify my speech toward the previous Froggit's in a gentler manner. With a hearty sniffle and a distance stare into the very core of my soul, the ghost simply replied with a quiet, uncertain, "That's okay…I'm fine…"

Of course he most definitely didn't act in such a way, but I held back my tongue in protest and tried for means of telling a joke. "Ah, okay, uh. So there was… er…" my eyes flickered over to Froggit staring fearfully at Toriel's angelic stance, beaming down at my attempt and undoubtedly intrigued by my approaching joke – one that didn't seem to exist in my head, at all.

I stood there for a moment, waiting for those dagger-like seconds to pass by without a single ounce of luck in obtaining the right amount of comedic relief. The silence fell upon me worse than the times I'd been pelleted by those Froggit's confused, frantically blind jumps. At least, I had thought so until suddenly my pixelated heart jolted out in a battle stance, hovering in place as I suddenly found myself steering it from left to right to avoid a downpour of Napstablook's teary forecast.

"R…e…a…l…l…y…N…o…t….F…e…e…l…i…n…g…U…p…T…o…I..t…R…i…g…h…t…N…o…w…S…o…r…r…y…"

There was no way of getting anywhere with him, especially with my lack of current humor. How was I to recall a joke let alone my memories for Pete's sake?

"Knock, knock."

Curiously, I glanced over at Toriel who appeared to be giggling at whatever is was she intended to say before she could finish. Froggit looked impossibly more uneasy. Pleadingly I took a gander at Napstablook who had an expression of perplexed standing. Consumed by his depression, he made no reply but I intended to not make a mockery of the guardian so with a smile I questioned "who's there?" for the ghost's sake. In response she chortled.

"Dishes."

I quirked an eyebrow questionably, but gave into the awaited turn of answering.

"Dishes…who?" My voice came out in a mixture of confusion and skepticism, narrowing my eyes along with Froggit belching out a hearty croak. With a mighty sweep of her arms, Toriel knocked aside the poor creature in her fit of laughter, sending him flying over the downed body of the motionless Napstablook.

"Dishes a very bade joke!" she exclaimed, focusing at me for rewarding approval. For a split second, I had to let her words simmer and process in my mind. But once the meaning of the pun hit me, I unleashed the world's most achingly pathetic, loudest, disgusting snort ever in history.

"Heh…"

Which the reaction I emitted, itself, seemed to work effectively on our targeted companion.

"Good one!" I chuckled at Toriel with an encouraging wink. And with such encouragement, she went on a flurry of jokes like: "Who won the skeleton beauty contest? No BODY." "What do skeletons say before they begin dining? BONE APPETIT." "Do you want to hear a joke? It's quite – HUMERUS."

Meanwhile, Napstablook, while simultaneously pelleting me with his tears of delusional confusion/giddiness/and depression, grew more and more determined to step up his game with a bizarre action. As I silently pondered the reason for tagging only with skeleton related jokes… his wispy form bobbed up and down in attempt to capture my attention.

"Let me try…" he moaned in a dreary sort of way, and I assumed he was attempting his own bit at comedy which was a reassuring sign. But rather then appeal to my expectations, he simply trembled and I watched, dumbfounded, at his harmful tears suddenly lifting up to the sky in a backwards downpour – or was it now an up pour? – to very slowly form a sloppy, questionably sanitary hat.

He finished and gazed at me thoughtfully, the edges of his newly designed masterpiece sloshing everywhere while I frantically shielded my heart. It was a remarkably horrid pain to deal with even mediocre blows from the tears of a ghost to the pixelated heart. And as strange as a statement that may be, I wasn't too keen on facing the oddity of such. Because really, the touching of ANYTHING in this world hurt a ton. "I call it… 'Dapper Blook'…"

"Uh," I breathed awkwardly, smiling pleadingly at Toriel. She simply waited for my response. "It's – uh – wow."

Napstablook seemed absolutely thrilled with my reaction. A grimace that I supposed was supposed to represent a ghost of a smile – forgive the pun – formed at its…lips…?

"Do…Do you like…it?" he asked for reassurance to which I much more expertly engaged in a hearty head banging session of "yes's".

"Absolutely stunning!" I exclaimed to find Napstablook slowly rising to his – er – non-human, ghostly feet. With a nod of approval and gratitude, he continued to mumble to himself a little more cheerily.

"I usually come to the RUINS because there's nobody around…but today I met somebody nice…." He blinked at me blankly and I questioned the extent of his graciousness. "…oh, I'm rambling again."

"You're really no-" I try to encourage only to find him speaking over me like I were air and he were the only living thing in the planet.

"I'll get out of your way…" he sighed sadly, and with such promises, he upped and vanished into nothingness. Familiarity washed over me for a brief second, the way he make his departure, but once again I was left with the simple memory of such an occurrence. Once again, any hints to what I'd just felt were gone.

"Well," I breathed in relief, recovering from my déjà vu spell. "That was quite…a dramatic display."

Toriel, still clearly ecstatic from her moment of comedic popularity, nodded enthusiastically. "It's in his nature, the poor thing. He's always moping and tends to do so in the middle of paths or where monsters come to gather." Approaching my contended state, she buried her massive paws into the thick of my hair, ruffling. I caught the familiar scent of butterscotch, smile widening. "He's a bit of an attention seeker. Just doesn't know it himself. So really, there was no need to come rushing out here so urgently."

She added this last bit, snapping her neck in a frightening speed to glare at the Froggit that had silently made its way over, flinching under her frigid gaze. "Ribbit…" he sobbed, eyeing me in a pleading manner. But I was at no state of mind to come to its aid as my thoughts swarmed with the infectious curiosity of "what lays beyond that damn door?" And how was I to gain access to it before Toriel went back to her deed of destroying it for good?

"Come, dear, let us go back home and I'll cook us a hearty meal for our little victory of the day."

I agreed heartily, following in her footsteps, hand in paw as she practically pronounced it law to walk about in such a display. The back of her fluffed neck seemed to bristle in excitement for the expected feast and as I stared at the white tips of her fine fur, I wondered a suddenly very obvious issue. Would I ever see this new mother of mine again? For as strong as my desires burned to explore the depths of the upper world, I couldn't help but fear what I would find would ensnare me and prevent any future plans for me returning to this land underground. And for the briefest of seconds, I grew terrified of the idea of finding my coming journey to risk a darker change from within me. A change I still felt to be a false companion of mine, eagerly awaiting my return to its looming side.

"I love you, Toriel," I found myself saying at the table when we had returned. And for a moment, I didn't belief I did. I felt I had to say it for the sake of her, because I hardly knew the creature; barely took the time to understand her. But after her eyes welled and she scooped me into a loving embrace, tightening her grip as though she knew deep down it was a way of saying goodbye, I knew it had to have been fact for me to say such a thing. In another timeline, in this very moment, I did love her. And by the way her body trembled with an unseeing grief, she may have loved me as myself, but she undoubtedly treasured who I represented in her heart. And it hit me.

She'd lost a child.

And I was merely a way back to her beloved career of motherhood. A key to her much missed hobby. A reminder of her past passion. Perhaps even a gift for reliving her happier days.

So I couldn't help but feel her heart breaking along with mine as later that night, when the lights were switched, the kisses were dealt, and my feet hit the floor soft as the thuds in my chest, I snuck down to the basement and found myself at the massive outlines of the gateway to the unknown, followed by the mother of the keep.

"Prove to me, then," she said so quietly that I had no choice but to turn to face her once comforting figure. Adrenaline coursed through my veins and I suddenly grew deathly cold because without a doubt in my mind, this very moment had occurred in a different world. A world I'd gone through as a different person. And I knew, absurdly, this was a redo. I was living a life on repeat and I had to do things differently or I'd resort once again to a cascading madness.

"I'll get it right this time, mom," I replied, watching flames dance around her protectively. Her features reflected dealt pain from the powerful punch of remembrance. With a gentle smile, I pocketed my hands as the pixelated heart appeared between us, still as a statue. "I won't disappoint you, not again."

Surprise ignited her remorseful stare, and ever so delicately she muttered a name in question. One I couldn't quite catch, or perhaps refused to process.

I couldn't fail this test a second time. I had a choice. There was another option. No one had to die this time.


End file.
